MONMOUTH – A stinging review of the Monmouth Police Department cites a lack of professionalism and poor documentation.
The report, released Tuesday by the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, targeted the department for its lack of leadership and years of negligence pertaining to operating procedures.
The 53-page review also notes that the department had not filed a monthly crime report since December 2004, has been lacking a crime investigator, lost personnel and training files in a January computer crash and found officers working out of uniform.
The association was also critical of town relations. “The Selectmen do not trust the police and the police do not trust the Selectmen. The relationship has deteriorated to a point that is not a healthy situation of the community.”
The report offers suggestions to remedy the problems.
And while Police Chief Charles Shaw Jr. acknowledged there have been some bumps along the way, he said the department is ready to move forward by looking at the report as a tool and not as a setback.
“I know what the report looks like,” he said. “But these are things that we as a department and a community needed to see. Now everybody is on the same page and we have a great blueprint to work with.”
The report stressed that there are many inadequacies in the chain of command and that numerous procedures and protocols had not been followed for a long time. An example of this was training that was not being conducted, from entry-level procedure to county training sessions available to the chief but not attended.
An issue addressed by those interviewed for the report was the lack of availability of the police chief and the overall image of the department. The chief said most of these issues have already been addressed and that the low morale of officers has taken a 360-degree turn.
“Everybody, I mean everybody, has grown from this experience,” Shaw said. “The fact that we had three well-educated, well-trained chiefs come here and help us out has left a mark and you can already see the smiles returning.”
Town Manager Jason Simcock also said the town is ready to move forward. “Rather than try to place blame or have negative response, I’m trying to be constructive,” he said. “It’s the only way to make positive changes.”
Since the start of the report in May, many upgrades have already been made to the department. Evidence that was kept secure in the previous police station has now been relocated to the current station. The once open layout of the station now has a private interviewing room, a benefit to the entire department.
“We didn’t know how to do it with the funding we had,” Shaw said. “But the police chiefs (of Waterville, Saco and Biddeford) showed us how we could make it happen.”
The report targets bookkeeping and records problems. There has been discussion of asking the Winthrop Police Department to lend a hand in that area, for a price not yet disclosed.
The chiefs’ review also cited a leadership problem.
“There is a lot of responsibility riding on the chief’s back,” Simcock said.
“I’m up to the challenge,” said Shaw, who has been the town’s chief since 1999.
Simcock said no disciplinary actions would be taken.
The report may be viewed at the Town Office and library as well as on the town’s Web site at www.townofmonmouth.com.
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